drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim x)

hey everyone! I was just wondering if any of you may know if the after market sells drive shaft adaptors to allow for wider rear tire fitment on my maxim X? Or, if any one out there has maybe fit a 140-150 size rear tire on their maxim X without doing any mods or rubbing? Thanks in advance! Pics soon to come!

 

I'm grinning a bit as this has come up before and can be a lively debate.

I'm of the camp that say that is very unlikely worth it. There are performance degradation issues which may not bother you. There are monetary costs that are a bit steep, which may or may not bother you.

If I was on a low to medium bike budjet and had to have a larger rear tire I would suggest selling the current bike and finding a bike that matches your criteria better.

On the other hand, as was stated clearly, loudly and correctly - with enough money, know-how and time you can certainly put a larger tire on the bike.

Before we turn this into a flame war (essentially hinging on whether or not you are truely dead set on this mod, understand the trade offs, and have the financial backing and will to do this) - we should ask you how badly you want to do this.

Certainly there are people here who would be able to help you in machining parts and solve technical problems... it is possible if you REALLY want to do it. Please don't take this as saying an absolute no - as honestly as much as I don't personally want a larger rear tire I would like to see someone suceed in this endevour.

Cheers,
woot

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Chain Drive Conversion on XS1100

Anything is possible with enough effort, but you must be sure of how the engine and middle gear rotates.

 

To answer you're question, Yes they have that, it's called a chain. You can trade the reliability of the drive shaft for a sprocket setup that can accomodate any size rear end, although anythign bigger than 150 will most likely require modification of the swing arm. Of course i'm not one to talk when it comes to leaving things alone...

 

i remember that debate woot... thought this was it... :| im glad it isnt

 

lol - hey no hard feelings from me on it... it's good to debate things

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Hey guys, I'm not looking for a debate, just a simple yes or no answer. So lets all behave and play nice! LOL! I figured if their was such a kit out there it would cost me. Im just weighing alternatives. I only paid $1300.00 for the bike and dont want to put more than $2300.00 into it total. I'd like to put a 150/80 16 rear, but would like to know if anyone out there knows for sure if it will fit. I can live with the 130/90 16, but would like to see a slightly meatier rear. As far as looking for a different ride Woot ?...Know way Jose! Ive been into these bikes since they came out in 85. I always wanted one, and now I found one. After owning secas, radians, fazers, fz's and a 97 yzf 1000, this old 86 maxim X has always been on my "most wanted" list with all those others Ive owned. Now that Ive got her, I'm not letting her go. S lets keep it clean, and no hitting below the belt! LOL!

 

sounds like he'll fit in just fine here. I say find a tire that ths same dimensions and measure it, see if it'll clear the frame. Maybe this debate can be open/shut once and for all and we'll all be a little wiser for knowing how big a tire we can put on our(well their, if it don't fit, i make it fit...)bikes. But i'll tell you, just as i said to Joel, big rear tires eat up gas and performance on bikes like these, where the power is already under control with the stock 130. I do agree with both of you in a meaty rear end can look really cool, it just be nice if it could go on smoothly.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

You'll have problems with the tire hitting the swingarm before anything else. You might find a 140 that'll fit, but even though they're the same numerical size, doesn't mean they're actually the same size. They tend to vary quite a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example, I have a 130 Dunlop Qualifier on my 650, my buddy has a Cheng Shin 130 on his, the Cheng shin is much wider than the dunlop. It almost touches the swingarm already. Heard of one member that had a 140 on his that rubbed the swingarm.

Anyway, whichever way you go about it, you'll have more than $1k in the conversion unless you have your own machine shop.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

AWWLLRIGHTY than!! I appreciate the input guys, thanks!

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

You can:
- Notch the swingarm (common practice on Vmaxes).
- Widen the rear rim
- Widen the swingarm (not as difficult as it sounds).

You will dramatically alter the handling of the bike with that much of a tire size change. Commensurate changes need to be made to keep the steering geometry close to stock.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Oh, and as far as I know there are no kits. Its all custom.

 

I don't want to start an old debate but the previous owner of my xj700 put a 140/90 16 rear tire on it and it is nearly new. This tire's sidewall raised letters brush against the drive shaft, especially while cornering. (perhaps only while cornering) There is about an inch of clearance between tire and swingarm on the other side.

Is there an adjustment to use a bit of this clearance to eliminate the rubbing?

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Maxim700, good question.

On my XJ750J Maxim, the 130/90 16 tire shows some wear from occasional rubbing against driveshaft housing. Same as you, almost no clearance on driveshaft side, but plenty on other side. And again, that's with a 130/90 with NO raised letters.

In this closeup, you can see the outer edge that is rubbing. The wear is about 1/2 way around the tire. I'm sure tire is not perfect, and may be 1/16" out, but it still seems like part of tire edge that has not touched is less than a paper width away from rubbing.

 

Strange, I can not edit my previous post and forgot to add.

Tire shows brand as "Challenger" by Kenda.
Friend with XS1100's he restores gave me the like new set of tires for free.

 

Actually there may be.

In the Vmax world a common adjustment is known as the washer swap. The washer on the right hand side of the axle is placed on the axle inside the final between the splined hub the wheel bearing. It moves the wheel to the right about 2mm.

I suspect a slightly larger spacer could be made to move the wheel over but the difference has to come off the shoulder of the axle on the right side.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Resurrection time!!

It saddens me to admit that I too have been bitten by the fat tire bug. So... I've been thinking about an inexpensive way to mount a 140-150 on my MaxX.

Now, rather than try some kind of crazy fabrication or (EEK!) chain conversion, I'm wondering if it would be possible to fit a '84-'97 XV swingarm assembly onto my bike. Anyone have any info on rear-end swappability between these two bikes? They sure look like they should fit...

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

You could space out the right side and leave the shaft in place like this V-Max I saw at the Ace:


Buuuuuut, I can only imagine how off that would be to ride...

Eek (cool bike though).

 

that pic above is a shame, I like the fat tire look as much as the next guy but havin yer stuff all cockeyed like that looks crappy.

 

That's a show bike! you can't put 150 HP to the ground 20 MM out of line,
2 MM is enough! How about a ball pien hammer on the housing for 2 MM?
My new Avon tires are a "red hair" away at 130/90-18. How far in from the housing is the actual shaft?

 

There's plenty of room to alter the Swing arm to accommodate a wider tire.

You'll have to make two cuts removing the Curved-in portion of the swing arm and weld-in some flat aluminum stock to restore the rigidity of the swing; again.

 

Good to know, Rick!

I've yet to dissasemble so I've only wondered if there was enough room in there to push er in a bit... Not that I want/need a larger rear tire (maybe when the new rubber wears down a l'il more).

How wide a tire do you suppose would safely fit on the rim?

 

Oh, clearly it's a show bike (though it was awefully dirty and it wasn't at a show... just a sunday at the ace cafe...). The post was just for fun.

Sounds like your idea would work, though.

There was another v-max there without the offset - and with a bigger tire:

 

V-Max = Apples
XJ_Bike = Oranges

Two different animals. Styling all-together different. The ass-end of that V-Max has a distinctly altered look to it; too.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that that is a Custom Fabbed-up swing arm on that thing.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

Uh-huh... Yeah... Right...

Now back to my question! How 'bout a Virago swingarm on a MaximX?

Anyone?

 

The purple bike had a custom swingarm, green one had modified stock (as far as I could tell)... Post's weren't meant to take measurements of, mostly just to show a wider tire on a shaft drive bike.

MaximumX, I have no idea if it would be a straight swap, but you can bet it wouldn't be. I wondered myself if you could swap out for a v-max swingarm (they also have a stock 150, but can squeeze in up to a 180 with a wheel swap).

I've also seen at least one XJ with the shaft re-located to the outside of the swingarm to allow for more tire without having to space anything out on the engine side - but I believe it was a hard-tail.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

2nd RESURRECTION!

hey i found this ancient topic with some intriguing info

is injuhneer still around??
how exactly would one widen the rear rim??
also i would like to discuss more about widening the rear rim together with the spacer swap?

wider rear tire bug has bitten me too and im desperately looking for ways to pull it off.
would it be possible to put a suitable spacer where injuhneer suggested and then widen the rims left side accordingly, wouldnt that result in ability to mount a wider tire and still have the wheel centered?? wheel spirals being offset?

 

I have a 150 on mine and it clears the swing arm fine. The problem is that the rim pulls the tire in and you really don't get any more width from the wider tire, it makes it taller. I'm running an 18" rear not the stock 16" for the Maxim, which I understand is wider than the Seca's 18. It rides and performs fine, but if you're looking for a wider looking tire, you're not going to get it without swapping to a wider rim, then you may get into swing arm clearance issues. Or maybe not.

 

thanks kevineleven.

a 150 tire would be a no go on my rim. or it would go on yes but the profile would be something else. i have a stock 120 and 130 is the widest i would use without modifying things.

now the big question was am i able to widen the rear rim and how?

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

So has anyone done a chain swap ? I was thinking of doing it ,but not really for the fat tire , more to free up a bit of power and help the handling a little .It looked to me like the engine case on a 550 is much different and would not interchange in pics , I don't have a 550 here I can look at . I've only got a 650 maxx and a 750 seca "that I am mixing the parts between the two".

 

of what i have read i think the chain swap is doable within reason for the xs1100 only.

but with money and skills, anything is possible.

 

Re: drive shaft adaptors?(for a wider rear tire on my maxim

the chain swap did not look worth the effort from any of pics I've seen . I will look at the 750 when I pull the motor this week . But I really think it would take a major case mod ,or total case swap. I still plan on looking in to it some more ,but I do not have much hope for it .